Winnipeg Police say they are investigating after a video was released showing an Indigenous woman being restrained with zip ties in Winnipeg’s Marlborough Hotel.
The video, filmed on December 25, shows a woman with her hands bound behind her back repeatedly trying to leave the hotel while several men prevented her from doing so.
The woman, who is seen crying with her hands restrained behind her back, then walks toward the front door as one of the men tries to direct her away from it, can be heard calling him a “pervert,” saying she was punched in the face and touched in her “private spot.”
According to Winnipeg Police, the woman in the video had allegedly held a knife and attempted to stab a hotel staff member, before a hotel employee put zip ties on her until officers arrived.
She was later arrested and charged with assault with a weapon. An investigation into the woman’s allegations of abuse by hotel staff in the video is also underway.
Video footage of the incident has been condemned by three Indigenous organizations in Manitoba: the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC), Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) and the Southern Chiefs’ Organization.
Grand Chief Cathy Merrick said the AMC had terminated its business relationship with the hotel as the woman was in Winnipeg for a medical appointment. Merrick says she also wants AMC to be involved in discussions with the First Nation and Inuit Health Branch about which hotels patients are placed at.
Merrick also says security personnel need cultural sensitivity training to deal with Indigenous people, and women security guards should be used in situations involving women.
Community members, including Indigenous drummers, held a rally inside the Marlborough Hotel on January 21, nearly four weeks after the incident that was recorded by a bystander and shared widely on social media.
“We can no longer allow for our people to be treated and disrespected like this,” said MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee at the rally. “It makes me upset that a woman is surrounded by men and she is zip-tied, feeling powerless and helpless.”
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